Since the very first paper was produced about it in 1991, Blockchain has divided the technology community into three groups:
- The Believers: Blockchain will replace governments, the world will be run by Blockchain.
- The Non-Believers: It’s just another Silverlight.
- The I-don’t-care-ers: I’ll just wait until someone does something.
Then in 2008, Bitcoin happened, and two more sections of people got added to the list –
- Crypto Warriors: End of the banks. The world has changed forever!
- Crypto Weary-ers: It’s a pandora’s box that will increase crime.
Why Blockchain is Gaining Traction?
While the reality is that Blockchain is just like any other technology that goes through the hype cycle, it has one fundamental advantage: it is what we call a “horizontal technology”. This means it has several use cases and applications compared to something like a Silverlight. More and more people are realizing the fact that there is more to Blockchain than cryptocurrencies.
‘Gartner estimates blockchain will generate $3.1 trillion in new business value by 2030’
The “Private Blockchain” world has far more use cases that can be transformational in the corporate world. Examples like supply chain traceability are already very popular and many companies are either in the process of implementing the same or have already implemented them. Similarly, secure sharing of data over blockchain networks, identity management using blockchain wallets, etc. are all use cases that are seeing a lot of traction. It is important to note though that a lot of these implementations are driven by trying to solve an existing problem rather than trying to reinvent the wheel. For example, blockchain in the supply chain is being used as a system of record rather than as a contract automation system.
Why Blockchain is Critical to Enterprises?
Whether to use a blockchain and if so, where to use blockchain will be a matter of great importance to enterprises. Hence companies need to deploy skilled personnel who can understand the domain, its problems, and opportunities along with having a deep-rooted understanding of the blockchain to be able to make good use of this wonderful technology.
Even in the “public blockchain”, we are seeing a lot of action with the advent of layer 2 scaling protocols and chains such as Polygon making it easier to create and anchor tokens. Considering that crypto is going to be the most popular payment method in the Metaverse, there have been loads of new companies entering this space. The popularity of Fintech companies based on blockchain is ever-increasing as well. The only thing stopping exponential growth in crypto-based lending, payment, and other platforms is some form of governance. A layer of governance in this space will bring in some much-needed confidence and will see massive growth in the sector. The “Stable Coin Transparency Act” that has been tabled in the US Senate might be the first step in that direction.
What all this means for services companies is that there will be substantial demand in the areas of both public and private blockchains soon. A lot of service firms have already been gearing up for the same over the last few years. The growing importance of blockchain platforms can also be gauged by the fact that companies like Amazon and Google are now offering “hosted blockchain as a service” products.
The outsourced IT services sector in India has undergone a massive change in the last few years. The transformation from being “a vendor” to “a partner” has been a long time coming. IT services firms are more enabled than ever having both the business acumen courtesy of years of working across domains and technology know-how.
The outsourced IT sector in India is fast approaching a perfectly competitive market where IT services are getting commoditized. This means companies must re-invent themselves and be value enablers rather than technology enablers. Blockchain is one such area where services firms can provide differentiating services like:
- Blockchain consulting
- DApp development
- Blockchain auditing/testing
- Private blockchain network setup & configuration
- Crypto token creation and registration, etc.
Some of the leading providers of these services like us are the usual suspects of IT outsourcing in India, actively developing blockchain solutions and frameworks for customers across the world. One thing is for sure – the time for private blockchains to replace enterprise databases is fast approaching and this sector is set for massive growth.
